The attitudes of five international teaching assistants (ITAs) towards teachers, teaching, and their ITA training course

Abstract

<p>The more teachers know about their students, the easier it is to meet their students' needs and expectations. The investigator's objective of this qualitative study was to gain in-depth knowledge of five international teaching assistants (ITAs) from China from the researcher's own ITA training class to determine (1) how their views of teachers and teaching had been shaped by Chinese society, and (2) the degree of agreement between their expectations of the ITA training class and goals that had been set for the class. Data were collected via open-ended interviews and questionnaires. The results showed that (1) the value placed on teachers and education by Chinese society, and therefore by these five ITAS, has varied greatly over the last 50 years, and (2) the expectations of the five ITAs for the ITA training course and the specific goals that had been set for the course were not always in agreement. The researcher recommends that ITA trainers learn more about their students' backgrounds and cultures and that goals for the class be set after performing thorough needs analyses and that these goals be clearly discussed with the class.</p>